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MakerBot Replicator Dual Extruder 3D Printer, Maker Shed, $1,749
Even now, some three months since the Replicator 2′s launch in September, the original MakerBot Replicator remains the premiere consumer-grade 3D printer in many ways. Unlike its successor, the original Replicator has a heated bed and can build models from both ABS and PLA, and is equipped with two extruders so it can print objects in multiple materials. One extruder, for instance, could be loaded with rigid PLA, while the other is equipped with water-soluble PVA, enabling the extrusion of complex structures (such as Tony Buser’s Hilbert Cube) in which PVA is used to fill voids and support overhangs that would be otherwise impossible or very difficult to produce.
